The September gluten free food give-away is the second in a series of three give-aways from the Bread of Life Bakery in Missouri. If you didn’t win in July, this is your second chance!

A gifts basket valued at $50 will be mailed directly to TWO WINNERS. Bread of Life describes these baskets as:

The Bread of Life gift basket includes one loaf of Country Brown Bread, one loaf of Multi Grain Bread, one bag of Cake Muffin and Brownie Mix, one Snicker Doodle Cookie, one Flax Shortbread Cookie, one Brownie, one Blueberry Muffin and one Chocolate Chip Muffin, tucked into a hand made basket, signed on the bottom by the Amish artisan who created it.

Thanks Bread of Life! What a great prize!

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Here’s how to enter:

1. Reply to this post and tell me if you have tried Bread of Life bakery products before, and if so, what your favorite Bead of Life product is.

(Email submission are OK, bit I prefer you enter via the site so I don’t miss an entry. It is also helpful to include a link to your personal website in case you win and miss the big announcement)

2. If you have not done so, subscribe to glutenfreefoodreviews.com via email.

The give-away winner will be announced via email and on this site. Also, you will receive future product reviews. To subscribe, simply enter your email address at the top right side of my homepage. That’s it! if you have subscribed in the past, you do not need to do it again.

The winner will be announced on Friday, September 12th!

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Now for the rules:

1. You must complete #1 and #2 to enter

2. Entries must be made by Thursday, September 12th at 11:59 p.m.

3. I will only ship to US addresses

4. One entry, per person please

Good luck!

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Look for reviews this month from Desire Tree International, Gluten Free Mama, Smashies, Bread of Life, Enjoy Life, Ariel’s Fruitwell, Joan’s GF Greatbakes of snack bars, fruit snacks, cookbooks, flour blends, sweet treats and fresh baked goodies!

Mary’s Gone Crackers sent me these gluten free crackers to try out in the following gluten free flavors: sea salt, chipotle & tomato, and curry. I thought the flavors sounded unique and was curious what they would taste like.

Fresh out of the bag, I took the above photo. Quite honestly, I thought the chipotle tomato ( reddish) and curry (yellowish green) flavors looked really unappetizing and gross- the weird colors and lumpy shapes did not appeal to me at all.

All three flavors provided a satisfying crunch like a pretzel, with very little crumbling. Some pieces were almost hallow, like they took the circle of the original crackers, rolled them up and repackaged them. These seem ideal for travel and snacks on the go and would also be perfect for dips and appetizers.

This is what I thought of these three flavors:

Mary’s Gone Crackers Gluten-Free Sea Salt Sticks & Twigs: These, I actually really, really liked. The taste and texture closely resemble the Mary’s Gone Crackers original flavor with the added sea salt flavor. I felt the sea salt enhanced the natural flavor of these hearty and healthy tasting crackers, and was a winning combination. Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Mary’s Gone Crackers Gluten-Free Chipolte Tomato Sticks & Twigs: This flavor tasted a bit spicier, but I really couldn’t place it- it didn’t seem like tomato, and the chipotle was mild, but lingering- very intriguing. To me, this flavor was “ok”. Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Mary’s Gone Crackers Gluten-Free Curry Sticks & Twigs: Ok, if you like curry, you might like these. Unfortunately the color and appearance of these crackers looked so unappetizing that I am sure it affected my perception of the flavor. I didn’t like them at all, even though the curry wasn’t overpowering. Rating:  1 star

Have you tried these gluten free snack crackers? What did you think?

Edited after publication . . I reduced the rating of the curry and chipotle flavors one star  because the more I thought about it, the more I realized I really, really did not like them. The revised rating accurately reflects that.

These are amazing!

Congratulations to CARLY with her randomly selected comment:

The Original Mary’s Gone Crackers are my absolute favorite. I’d love to try these.

You have won the August gluten free product give-away! A 12 pack of snack size Sticks & Twigs from Mary’s Gone Crackers will be on it’s way to you soon!

Carly, please email me at glutenfreefoodreviews {at} gmail [com] and provide your shipping address. (If you don’t email me, then I don’t know where to ship them!)

Good luck to the rest of you next month! Due to the Labor Day holiday, the September give-away will be announced on September 5th so no one misses out. In the meantime, I have some reviews ready to post this week- including the reviews of these Sticks & twigs snacks.

I was especially interested in these crackers because I heard that these Glutino gluten free crackers are just like the buttery Ritz crackers I used to eat with peanut butter and bananas with my girls.Yum!

These Glutino gluten free crackers sell for $3.99 in my area. The 5.3 ounce box actually contains two small pouches of crackers. This is great for keeping the crackers fresh, but I found the packaging deceiving. You get much less than you might think.

These gluten free crackers resemble Ritz crackers with the crinkled edge and round, golden appearance. However, these crackers are a bit thinner in the center with slightly flaky, but compact layers. There is a hint of buttery flavor. The texture and flakiness reminded me more of a saltine than a Ritz, though. The crackers are light and tasty but somewhat fragile- half of my crackers were broken into small pieces straight out of the box. Also, I had to be careful spreading my peanut butter on them, so they wouldn’t break. These crackers are yummy to eat straight out of the box and their mild flavor would pair well with any spread or topping. I can also see these crackers as being excellent morning sickness crackers for my pregnant readers.

These are great crackers- despite the breakage- and I will definitely buy them again.

Pros: pleasant, mild flavor; great alone or with a topping, contains two separate bags to maintain freshness, reminds me of round saltine crackers

Cons: deceptive packaging, be careful of breakage

Rating: 4 stars

Want to try these crackers? Click below to check them out!

Glutino - Crackers
From: glutenfree.com

Ingredients: Corn starch, rice flour, organic palm oil, modified corn starch, dextrose, eggs, salt, yeast, guar gum, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, natural flavor.

The 2008 Gluten Free Cooking Expo will be September 12-13 in Chicago! Presenters from around the country and Canada are meeting to share their gluten free cooking tips, products, and recipes. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to gluten free chefs, cookbook authors, cooking demos, a vendor fair, dinner outings, complimentary goodie bags, and door prizes. There will be a children’s event as well!

The author of The Gluten Free Bible, Jax Peters Lowell will emcee the event.

If you want to find out more, or register, please visit their site http://ww.glutenfreeclasses.com

If you want to read reviews or check out The Gluten Free Bible before the conference, feel free to click on the link below:

Thanks Jen, for emailing me about this gluten free conference you are involved in!

Be sure to check back this coming week for a new product review and the belated August free give-away!

When I write a review, it is usually about a gluten free product that looks good or seems unique or interesting to me that I find in a store or online. Up until today I found almost nothing gluten free to try in my new area, much less review. I was also having a hard time preparing meals without gluten free basics like my favorite gluten free flour or gluten free baking powder. I was starting to feel frustrated. And hungry.

That’s right, today my gluten free sister Kristina and I checked out a new store south of Salt Lake City called Against the Grain. I still think I am in shock, because EVERYTHING in the store is gluten free. No Kidding. I think I almost passed out. I just didn’t think a store like that existed! No more hours of label reading- I could shop freely and easily with no worries of hidden gluten. After loading up on some new mixes, cooking basics and fresh gluten free bread, fresh gluten free hamburger buns and fresh gluten free sugar cookies (that left my picky kids drooling over), I unloaded my goodies in the gluten free pantry section in my kitchen. What a site! I can now cook meals and bake gluten free goodies whenever I want.

Right now I am in the process of testing some gluten free products to write about, but until I am done, Kelly from Triumph Dining sent me the following email to promote their exciting offer to give away FREE Dining Cards to help raise funds to promote awareness for celiac disease.

You don’t have to buy a thing! Just sign up and pass along the news to your friends and fellow bloggers. The email reads as follows:

Hi Karen,

I’m writing you today to let you know about Triumph Dining’s new give-away that we’re doing in August to raise money for Celiac Disease awareness, called the $10k Challenge. I hope this is something you would like to share with your readers.

Triumph Dining is giving away FREE American Dining Cards until the end of August. There’s absolutely no purchase necessary. Your readers can simply visit http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx to participate and get a free dining card.

The purpose of this give-away is to raise money for Celiac Disease Awareness. If 15,000 people to sign up for free dining cards, Triumph Dining will make a $10,000 donation in support of a national celiac disease awareness campaign. When we hit our goal, we’ll ask you and the gluten free community to help us decide which non-profit(s) receives the donation.

We’re trying to build awareness on two fronts: With 15,000 more dining cards on the street, we’ll be educating more restaurants about the gluten free diet faster. And, with $10,000 funding behind a national campaign, we can diagnose and educate more Celiacs.

The FREE dining card offer is available at http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx and we’ll be posting regular progress reports on our blog at http://blog.triumphdining.com.

I hope you’ll tell your readers about this promotion. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks and keep blogging,

Kelly

Kelly, I am more than happy to do so. Good luck with your goal!

I am actually embarrassed to write this review.

This gluten free pasta has been a staple at my house for over a year now. My husband and picky children really love it in a variety of recipes. However, imagine to my surprise when I was cleaning up my sidebar categories and realized I hadn’t reviewed this brand of Tinkyada gluten free pasta. You would think this would be one of the first! I can’t believe I overlooked this. Yikes.

In fact, the above photo is my favorite pasta dish Creamy Chicken and Pasta. My family slurps up and asks for seconds ( trust me, this rarely happens at my house. Too many picky eaters!). To try the recipe, stop over and check out my Dish of The Week feature on my family blog.

I usually purchase the 16 ounce bag of this gluten free penne pasta for $3.69 and it easily feeds my family of four two hearty meals.

This Tinkyada pasta is easy to prepare- simply boil the noodles for 15 minutes, and after a cold water rinse you are ready for your favorite sauce. I found these noodles be slightly larger than a traditional wheat penne noodles. These gluten free noodles also cook up soft and slightly chewy; it really doesn’t result in a firm al dente, though. The flavor is light and mild, and pairs well with any sauce. I did not experience any aftertaste or strange texture. These noodles also hold their shape well with no splitting or cracking. It’s all good!

Seriously, with these noodles, you really can’t go wrong. Tinkyada has a great reputation, and these noodles are no exception.

Pros: pleasant, mild flavor; holds shape, simple ingredients,

Cons: doesn’t cook al dente; softer density and texture

Rating: 5 stars

Want to try it for yourself? Click the link below:

Ingredients: stone ground brown rice, rice bran, water

Click HERE for my other Tinkyada reviews and HERE for my other gluten free pasta reviews!

Have you tried this pasta? What did you think?

Thank you to all who shared their favorite gluten free treats and foods! I definitely have some new ideas for products I would love to try. My children helped me randomly select our following winners by picking two numbers between 1 and 29. Drum roll please . . .

to Sara L. with her comment:

Our favorite is probably the Baked Apple Pancake recipe from “Gluten-Free Coking for Dummies” by Danna Korn and Connie Sarros. We have breakfast for dinner probably once a week, and once I was diagnosed I needed to find a recipe that incorporated apple pancakes (our family’s favorite) for our weekly meal.

AND

Rebecca Wicklund with her comment:

My favorite product is Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix and then topped with the crunchy, sugary, chocolate frosting. Reminds me of the cake my mom used to always make when I was a kid!

Both of you have won the Bread of Life gift basket! Please email me at glutenfreefoodreviews [at} gmail [dot] com with your mailing address. I will then forward your information to Bread of Life, and before you know it, your tasty prize will be on its way!

Disappointed you didn’t win? Have no fear! Bread of Life bakery has generously donated more tasty gift baskets for the September give-away. So mark your calendars!